Heterogeneous wireless networks are not without various problems: they are difficult to manage, control, monitor, secure, and optimize. For example, the spectrum allocated to the different types of wireless networks remain scarce, thus limiting the ability of the networks to accommodate the growing demand for mobile data driven by mobile devices, including smartphones and the like. In addition, wireless connectivity can be fragmented, and the roaming between networks is at best ad hoc. In the unlicensed spectral bands, Wi-Fi access points (APs) are deployed in an ad-hoc manner by end-users, enterprises, and hot-spot operators, all sharing the Wi-Fi spectrum using a crude channel sharing mechanism—carrier sense multiple access—that was not designed for the current density of unlicensed wireless devices. Wi-Fi APs are being embedded into other communication devices, such as cable modems and DSL routers, where configuration and management become more challenging due to constrained interfaces and access. The licensed spectral band is also undergoing a paradigm shift with the emergence of Heterogeneous Networks (HetNets), wherein macrocells with large coverage areas are complemented by small cells (micro, pico, and femtocells, some of which have integrated Wi-Fi), the latter being deployed to cover small areas with poor coverage and/or high capacity demands. Currently, stand-alone Wi-Fi APs are configured and managed by their end users, while embedded and hotspot APs are typically pre-configured. Small cells are currently being trialed by operators. The mechanism for how they will be configured and managed when deployed into the field has not yet been fully determined but, due to cost and manpower constraints, is likely to differ from the individual fine-tuning used today for configuration and management of macrocells. In addition, different wireless devices do not possess an efficient and reliable handoff mechanism to switch from one type of network to another, even though such a mechanism can improve the performance of the particular wireless device as well as the overall network performance.